William Kennedy Smith weds on Tilghman Island

May 09, 2011|By Laura Vozzella

William Kennedy Smith married girlfriend Anne Henry Saturday in a picturesque white chapel on Tilghman Island, then treated busloads of wedding guests to a reception and fireworks display at the $1.1 million waterfront farmhouse he bought in September.

That's according to a real estate agent and inn keeper who, like many people on the 3-mile island, were aware of the goings-on.

Smith, a nephew of President John F. Kennedy who was acquitted of rape and battery in 1991 by a Florida jury, did not respond to an e-mail message seeking comment. A man who answered the phone at MedRed, Smith's Washington-based medical communications technology firm, said Smith was unavailable.

Smith and Henry, a former communications director for his firm, got engaged last year, The Washington Post reported in December. Smith was 50 and Henry was "early 30s," the paper reported at the time.

The wedding took place in St. John's Chapel, a small, white clapboard Methodist church. Guests were taken by buses to Smith's vacation home, where a tent was set up for an outdoor reception, said Rondy Alstrom, a local real estate broker who was not a guest but was among those on the island taking note of the festivities.

"He had a big tent and 30 minutes of some spectacular fireworks," she said. "Biggest fireworks I've ever seen."

Smith bought the 2,900-square-foot vacation home, built in 1920, from Robert A. Pascal, a former aide to Gov. Willliam Donald Schaefer, according to state property records. He purchased the property under the name Dublyn Group LLC, whose mailing address matches the street address and suite number for MedRed's quarters in the Watergate Office Building.

David McCallum, owner of the Tilghman Island Inn, said he was also aware of the wedding because a few guests stayed with him.

"There were a couple of guests," he said. "One guy from Minnesota was a hoot at the bar Friday night."

Lest anyone assume that was a Kennedy behaving badly, McCallum said the hoot in question was related to the bride.